Shifting Perceptions about Online Education

In the most recent study conducted by the Babson Survey Research Group, the number of college students at both the undergraduate and graduate level continues to increase. The study, which was conducted across a wide range of universities and colleges, encompassed more than 2,800 chief academic officers.

Since Babson began tracking online course enrollment back in 2002, the total number of students actively taking online courses has consistently grown from year to year. For the 2014 calendar year enrollment in undergraduate courses peaked with nearly 10 million male students and a little less than 7.5 million female students. While registration took a slight dip in 2013, overall online enrollment is set to significantly increase by 2023 another study shows.

What is important to note about these statistics is the changing opinion these courses have received since first made popular by for-profit colleges like Phoenix and Kaplan University back in the late 90’s. Public opinion on these courses was widely scrutinized as questions of quality of instruction, difficulty of courses and student accountability came into play.

However, as these programs continued to grow and make their way to into traditional colleges and universities, online course reputation has shifted. In the same study’s last round of data, almost 75% of the polled academic professionals (both students and professors) stated that online education courses lived up to their traditional course counterparts if not exceeded it in some cases. This feedback marks a 60% increase in positive response rates in the quality of online education since the study first started tracking data back in 2003.

It is also not just a few isolated studies here and there that have been tracking the affluence of these online courses. Each year, US New and World Report compiles a list of the top 100 programs, graduate and undergraduate. Some of the top performing schools include:

· Norwich University’s Civil Engineering program

· University of Florida’s Pharmacy program

· University of Cincinnati’s Master of Science in Nursing program

Online education is quickly becoming a vital part of a university or college’s long term success and growth. As more prospective students entertain online options due to decreased tuition, study flexibility and commuting concerns, traditional colleges are being challenged to offer competitive programs that will keep enrollment numbers on the rise. Entersasys networks conducted a survey that showed the following:

· More than 90% of schools will have online course options in play come 2017

· 84% of polled schools say online courses compliment residential education

· 83% of schools are interested in joining online education groups like edX, Coursera or Udacity

While all the talk has largely been in favor of online education, 67% of polled academic professionals still believe that online courses will never replace traditional classroom instruction.